Nadal to get stem cell treatment
Updated: November 10, 2014, 2:18 PM ET
Associated Press
BARCELONA, Spain — Rafael Nadal‘s doctor says the 14-time Grand Slam winner will receive stem cell treatment on his ailing back.
Angel Ruiz-Cotorro told The Associated Press by phone on Monday that, “we are going to put cells in a joint in his spine” next week in Barcelona.
The Spanish tennis star was already sidelined for the rest of the season after having his appendix removed last week.
Ruiz-Cotorro, who has worked as a doctor for Nadal for the past 14 years, said Nadal’s back pain is “typical of tennis” players and that the treatment is meant to help repair his cartilage and is similar to stem cell treatment Nadal received on his knee last year.
He said Nadal is expected to return to training in early December.
Several NFL players and baseball players have received stem cell treatment. Nadal’s fellow Spaniard Pau Gasol, center of the Chicago Bulls, received stem cell treatment on his knee in 2013.
Stem Cell Treatment: Out from the Shadows, Onto the Cutting Edge
From Muscle and Medicine by Jenny Vrentas
Wed Jul. 30, 2014
The Jets’ Chris Johnson is one of hundreds of NFL players who’ve turned to stem cells to aid in recovery from injury. It may be the next big breakthrough in the treatment of sports ailments, but for now the use of such therapy is strictly limited in the U.S.—and questions about effectiveness outweigh the answers
New Jet Chris Johnson had stem cells from his bone marrow reinjected into his knee to augment January surgery for a torn meniscus. The hope is that it would boost healing and perhaps rebuild cartilage. (AP)
He’s 28. He has five 1,000-yard NFL rushing seasons to his name, one 2,000-yarder and a burning desire to prove he’s the same speedster he’s always been. So when Chris Johnson visited orthopedic surgeon James Andrews in January to fix his ailing left knee, he liked the sound of two intriguing words: Stem cells.
The veteran running back tore the meniscus in that knee in Week 3 of the 2013 season—his last with the Titans before being cut—but never missed a game. The injury to the knee’s natural shock absorber also caused other damage in the joint, and Andrews presented an option that might augment what surgery alone could do. The plan: Take stem cells, the body’s universal building blocks, and deliver them directly to the construction site.
“When I tore my meniscus and played the season out, through the wear and tear, I lost a lot of cartilage,” says Johnson, who was signed by the Jets to bring explosiveness to their offense. “When you put the stem cells in, it might be able to help rebuild that cartilage in your knee. Hopefully, it makes your knee better for even more years.”
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Tags: arthritis, athletes, bone marrow, Bone Marrow Concentrate, Concentrated Stem Cell Plasma, Interventional Orthopedics, Mature Athlete, medicine, Orthopedics, Osteoarthritis, Pain Management, Regenerative, Regenexx, stem cells, treatment